Chapter Summaries

After Shi Yan woke, his friends celebrated and Qi Ziyue spoke with him privately, while he reflected on his recent brush with death. He decided to pursue fire-control techniques and left the chapter intent on killing demonic beasts to earn strength and credits.

• Shi Yan woke and joked with Ding Le before Lei Gang tested his strength and vowed to surpass him.
• Meng Kaixuan showed the mission rankings, with himself far ahead in first place, and Qiao Jiu gave Shi Yan a Three Lives Bronze Coffin matching the one she had given Qi Ziyue.
• The others left Shi Yan alone with Qi Ziyue, who told him about becoming Dean Wang's disciple and learning the Moon Wheel Profound Meaning.
• Shi Yan and Qi Ziyue held hands, but Shi Yan sent her back after remembering how close he had come to dying.
• Shi Yan searched Magic Martial University's marketplace for fire-control techniques, found the higher-ranked skills too expensive, and resolved to slay demonic beasts for Martial Virtue Points and credits.

Shi Yan and Ding Le entered the underground passages beneath the library to hunt the Silver Claw Rat King and prevent a Beast Tide. They reached the rat demons’ stronghold, where Shi Yan chose to press on despite Ding Le’s warning.

• Shi Yan proposed splitting up the underground rat pack and going below with Ding Le, while Lu Xingzhou agreed to the plan.
• Shi Yan and Ding Le headed to the library, where the Silver Claw Rat King’s burrow was located.
• Shi Yan killed the guarding Silver Ring Snakes and stored their corpses in his Space Ring before Ding Le could join him.
• Shi Yan and Ding Le entered the underground passages, with Ding Le guiding him through forks where rat demons lurked.
• Ding Le warned that the Silver Claw Rat King was ahead among many Level 2 rat demons and suggested retreating, but Shi Yan refused.

Shi Yan fought through the Silver Claw Rat horde with his flames, fists, and movement technique while Ding Le tracked the approaching demons. The chapter ended as more beasts approached, and Ding Le realized they might not be rats.

• Shi Yan used the Mad Python Earth Core Flame to kill the first Second-Order Silver Claw Rats with flaming punches.
• Ding Le warned Shi Yan about waves of incoming rats, and Shi Yan killed them without being touched.
• Ding Le realized a Third-Order rat demon might be directing the horde and guessed Shi Yan aimed to kill the Rat King.
• Shi Yan used a swift movement technique to wipe out another group before Ding Le could join the fight.
• Shi Yan teased Ding Le for tiring from his scouting role, and Ding Le warned him that unfamiliar demon beasts were approaching.

Shi Yan and Ding Le discovered a Fourth-Order Demonic Beast approaching from behind while heading toward the Silver Claw Rats’ nest, where the Rat King had also reached the fourth order. Shi Yan unleashed the Southern Bright Blazing Fire, killed the Rat King, and earned 500 Martial Virtue Points.

• Shi Yan sensed a Fourth-Order Demonic Beast devouring rat demon corpses, but chose to continue deeper with Ding Le instead of alerting their instructor.
• Ding Le realized the Rat King in the Silver Claw Rats’ nest was also a Fourth-Order Demonic Beast, while another such beast approached from behind.
• Shi Yan sent Number Two to protect Ding Le and charged into the vast chamber, where the Rat King sat atop a mound amid its swarm.
• Shi Yan covered himself in Southern Bright Blazing Fire and burned through the Silver Claw Rats as he advanced toward the Rat King.
• Shi Yan feinted with the Lava Spirit Devouring Saber, then struck the Rat King with a Thrusting Punch and ignited Southern Bright Blazing Fire inside it.
• The Rat King burned to death, and Shi Yan gained 500 Martial Virtue Points for killing an enemy above his level.

Shi Yan killed the Silver Claw Rat King, then used the Southern Bright Blazing Fire to wipe out the remaining rat swarm and discovered that the Lava Spirit Devouring Saber was absorbing a Demon Core. His score surged to 48,383, putting him in first place and leaving Meng Kaixuan stunned; Lu Xingzhou said he had alerted the teachers about a Fourth-Order Demonic Beast.

• After killing the Rat King, Shi Yan restored his strength with Martial Virtue Points and unleashed his flames to seal the tunnels and burn the remaining Silver Claw Rats.
• Shi Yan gained 10,086 Martial Virtue Points, then noticed the Lava Spirit Devouring Saber absorbing energy from a Demon Core in the Rat King's remains.
• Meng Kaixuan watched Shi Yan's leaderboard score climb past his own and reach first place, eventually freezing at 48,383 points.
• Meng Kaixuan called Lu Xingzhou, who confirmed he had informed the teachers that a Fourth-Order Demonic Beast had appeared.

Jiang Cuifang learned that Shi Yan was safe and still fighting after killing the Fourth-Order Rat King. Shi Yan and Ding Le set out to face another Fourth-Order Demonic Beast: a Black Widow.

• Liu Xiuyuan stopped Jiang Cuifang and the teachers from intervening, assuring her that Shi Yan was safe and killing Demonic Beasts.
• Shi Yan emerged from the passage after killing the Rat King and told Ding Le that the rat demons had already been cleared out.
• Shi Yan discovered he had taken first place on the points Leaderboard and decided the mission should end quickly so he could return to Magic Martial University to earn credits.
• Shi Yan collected rat demon corpses and learned from Ding Le that a weapon absorbing Demon Core energy could be alive and advance in rank.
• Shi Yan and Ding Le returned to the passage and found a gigantic Fourth-Order Black Widow chewing on Silver Claw Rat corpses.

Shi Yan and Ding Le spent two days clearing the underground demonic beasts, while Shi Yan’s rising score spurred Qi Ziyue, Lei Gang, and the others to fight harder. After emerging into sunlight, Shi Yan checked his status and considered how to spend his 35,447 Martial Virtue Points.

• Shi Yan killed a Fourth-Order Black Widow with one flaming saber strike, then continued through the tunnels with Ding Le.
• Qi Ziyue saw Shi Yan’s score rise and urged Class Three to move faster, while Lei Gang, Lu Xingzhou, Meng Kaixuan, and the others were inspired to fight harder.
• Shi Yan and Ding Le swept through the county’s underground ruins, with Shi Yan killing the demonic beasts and leaving a few for Ding Le.
• After two days and three nights, Shi Yan and Ding Le emerged into sunlight, and Ding Le praised Shi Yan’s endurance.
• Shi Yan checked his status, saw that he had 35,447 Martial Virtue Points, and wondered which attribute to improve first.

Shi Yan upgraded Boundless Sea of Fire to the Third Layer, greatly increasing his strength, Blood Vitality, and mental energy, then raised his Blood Vitality further. The freshmen mission ended early after the students cleared the county town ruins, and the group returned to Magic Martial University to prepare for the National Freshman Competition selection.

• Shi Yan spent 20,000 Martial Virtue Points to raise Boundless Sea of Fire to the Third Layer, gaining 200 cards of Blood Vitality and 50 Hz of mental energy.
• Shi Yan used another 10,000 Martial Virtue Points to raise his Blood Vitality to 911 cards and considered hunting demonic beasts for more points.
• An announcement ended the freshmen mission early because the demonic beasts had been cleared, and the leaderboard placed Shi Yan first with 88,486 points and Ding Le 395th.
• Ding Le noticed Shi Yan had grown stronger, and Shi Yan carried him back to the buses.
• Liu Xiuyuan praised the freshmen for reclaiming fourteen square kilometers, announced increased rewards and a doubled first-place reward, and sent everyone back to school.
• The buses departed for Magic Martial University, where the next event would be the internal selection for the National Freshman Competition.

Liu Xiuyuan learned that Principal Bai Xuanling and many experts had vanished, so he took over as acting principal and moved up the Freshman Grand Competition preliminaries. Meanwhile, Shi Yan returned to the dorm with his roommates and prepared to invite Qi Ziyue to celebrate, leaving to call her and get ready to cook for her.

• Liu Xiuyuan found Bai Xuanling’s letter appointing him acting principal and learned from Huang Qizheng that experts and specialists across Huaxia had disappeared.
• Liu Xiuyuan suspected Huaxia was preparing for a major change and moved the Freshman Grand Competition preliminaries forward.
• Shi Yan and his roommates returned to their villa, where Li Tao celebrated their mission’s success and Lei Gang offered to treat with his credits.
• Shi Yan revealed he had forty thousand credits and let Number One take his roommates’ food orders.
• After his roommates encouraged him to invite Qi Ziyue, Shi Yan understood how brave she had been while caring for him and left to call her and prepare for their meal.

Qi Ziyue visited Shi Yan at his dormitory, where she charmed his roommates with gifts and shared a meal he had prepared from dishes she liked. After they left together, she gave him Advanced Body Tempering Medicine and kissed his cheek, leaving Shi Yan stunned.

• Shi Yan welcomed Qi Ziyue to his dormitory and led her inside, where he had prepared a table of food for her.
• Qi Ziyue gave Li Tao Fourth-Order Golden Donkey meat, Lei Gang a scroll of quests, and Ding Le two Wind Listening Pills.
• Shi Yan served the final dish, teased Qi Ziyue about his gift, and drank thirty cups of liquor to honor his promise.
• After the meal, Shi Yan and Qi Ziyue left together, and he cleared his dizziness by circulating his breathing technique.
• Qi Ziyue gave Shi Yan Advanced Body Tempering Medicine and kissed his cheek, leaving him frozen in surprise.

After learning that Fang Ziwei had disappeared while carrying out important work for the country, Shi Yan met his Third Senior Brother and discovered how powerful his fellow disciples were. Zhang Yunya then told him that Li Yuqing had returned.

• Zhang Yunya told Shi Yan that Fang Ziwei had disappeared, and Shi Yan hurried to meet her.
• Huang Qizheng introduced himself as Shi Yan’s Third Senior Brother and explained the identities and strength of their fellow disciples, including Martial Emperor Meng Xuan.
• Shi Yan told Huang Qizheng that the Guidance Cult had tried to capture him, and Huang Qizheng explained that the other disciples had already retaliated, killing two Martial Kings and thousands of martial artists.
• Shi Yan assured Huang Qizheng that he understood why Teacher Fang Ziwei had kept his fellow disciples’ identities secret and would work hard to grow stronger.
• Zhang Yunya led Shi Yan away from the government affairs building and told him that Li Yuqing had returned.

Shi Yan learned that Zhang Yunya and Li Yuqing had both reached the Sixth Order and would fight in a public match before Li Yuqing led him on her dangerous graduation project to climb Mount Tai. Zhang Yunya warned him that wealthy students could soon catch up by drawing on their foundations and resources, and Shi Yan returned to the dormitory to distribute tickets to his classmates.

• Zhang Yunya told Shi Yan that Li Yuqing had returned at the Sixth Order and handed him tickets to watch their match that night.
• Zhang Yunya explained that Li Yuqing's graduation project was to reach the summit of Mount Tai, where demonic beasts made the climb dangerous, and Shi Yan agreed to go.
• Zhang Yunya explained that she and Li Yuqing had advanced by building strong foundations and finding opportunities, and warned Shi Yan that wealthy classmates could catch up.
• Shi Yan returned to the dormitory and gave tickets to Qi Ziyue, Lu Xingzhou, and the others.

At Magic Martial University, Zhang Yunya and Li Yuqing faced off in their first battle in nearly a year, drawing a packed crowd eager to see which Sixth Order Great Grandmaster would prevail. The fight began with Zhang Yunya charging into close combat while Li Yuqing stood her ground and threw two Returning Blades.

• Students at Magic Martial University discussed Zhang Yunya and Li Yuqing’s upcoming showdown and their reputations as powerful Sixth Order Warriors.
• Shi Yan told Qi Ziyue that he backed his Senior Sister, Zhang Yunya, and Qi Ziyue asked him to introduce them.
• Zhang Yunya and Li Yuqing appeared in the arena, where their supporters cheered as a defensive barrier rose around the fighting ground.
• A teacher declared the battle begun, and Zhang Yunya charged forward and swung her double-bladed battle axe at Li Yuqing.
• Li Yuqing remained in place and threw two Returning Blades at Zhang Yunya’s attack.

Li Yuqing used her Soul of Machinery and an arsenal of weapons to gain the upper hand against Zhang Yunya, but Zhang Yunya shattered her axe into fragments and turned the fight around. Li Yuqing lured Zhang Yunya into a smoke-filled arena, where the battle ended out of sight and left everyone stunned by the fighters’ revealed condition.

• Li Yuqing blasted Zhang Yunya backward with explosive Returning Blades, cracked her giant axe, and followed up with flying shuttles.
• Li Yuqing donned armor powered by Demon Cores and bombarded Zhang Yunya with an arsenal of weapons, prompting the fighters’ supporters to argue over her tactics.
• Zhang Yunya shattered her cracked axe into fragments, destroyed Li Yuqing’s deployed weapons, and struck her energy shield with an amplified punch that sent her into the arena barrier.
• Li Yuqing fired more shells to fill the arena with smoke, then charged inside with curved blades while Zhang Yunya’s vision was obstructed.
• The battle went unseen for several minutes, Li Yuqing cried out, and the smoke cleared to reveal both fighters and shock the audience.

Li Yuqing and Zhang Yunya fought to a draw in a brutal arena match that Shi Yan realized had been staged to test whether Li Yuqing could protect him. After the two confirmed Li Yuqing had passed, they gave Shi Yan the credits from the match and wished him success at Mount Tai.

• Li Yuqing and Zhang Yunya ended their fight in a draw after injuring each other, with Shi Yan recognizing the underwear hanging from Li Yuqing's helmet as his own.
• Shi Yan questioned why Zhang Yunya's weapon had broken and why neither fighter had used their strongest techniques, then left Qi Ziyue and went to check on Zhang Yunya.
• Zhang Yunya revealed that she had fought Li Yuqing to test whether she could protect Shi Yan.
• Li Yuqing threw Shi Yan's underwear back to him and complained about the psychological damage, while Zhang Yunya laughed and the two discussed their injuries.
• Zhang Yunya and Li Yuqing told Shi Yan that he had passed the test, gave him the credits from the match, and wished him success at Mount Tai.

Shi Yan sold the monster beast corpses he had collected, spent most of his credits on equipment, medicine, and an A-class martial arts skill, then headed to the arena for the competition. The chapter ended as the ten rings stood ready and students gathered to see which fighters would represent Magic Martial University.

• Shi Yan absorbed Qi Ziyue's advanced Body Tempering Medicine, gained 20 vitality, and found that 310,000 credits from the arena match had reached his account.
• Shi Yan called the supplies building and sold the monster beast corpses from his Space Ring for 44,600 credits.
• Shi Yan spent his credits on clothing, two sets of B-class armor, outdoor medicines, and the A-class Heavenly Fire Guidance skill.
• Shi Yan met Li Tao, Ding Le, and Lei Gang, and the four went to the martial arena for the competition.
• Shi Yan and his roommates arrived at the arena as students discussed which ten fighters would represent Magic Martial University.

Shi Yan defeated Ni Mei in the first round of the new student tournament after studying her water-supported palm techniques, then went to the library to learn Heavenly Fire Guidance. The next day, he appeared unusually confident as the second round began, puzzling Principal Liu Xiuyuan about what had changed.

• Shi Yan entered the tournament and faced Ni Mei, a Combat Branch Class One student, on Stage One.
• Shi Yan let Ni Mei display her water-element palm techniques before defeating her with Flowing Fire Thousand Jin Fist, and Ni Mei conceded.
• Shi Yan gained Martial Virtue Points from the public match and went to the library to study Heavenly Fire Guidance.
• The next day, Shi Yan took the stage for the second round, and Ding Le, Li Tao, and Ni Mei noticed his striking new confidence.
• Liu Xiuyuan observed Shi Yan's unusual bearing and wondered how he had changed so quickly after receiving Heavenly Fire Guidance.

Shi Yan secured a place in the top ten of the preliminaries and declined to fight for rankings before leaving Magic Martial University with Li Yuqing for her graduation project. They stopped at a Bloodthirsty Twin-Eyed Wolf gathering spot, where Shi Yan spent Martial Virtue Points to improve Heavenly Fire Guidance before entering the hunt.

• Shi Yan won his second and third preliminary matches, and three injured contestants withdrew, leaving the top ten decided.
• Shi Yan chose not to compete for rankings and told Li Yuqing he was ready to leave for her graduation project.
• Li Yuqing drove Shi Yan out of Magic City in her Tianshu, explaining that recording equipment would document their project from the start.
• Li Yuqing stopped near a Bloodthirsty Twin-Eyed Wolf gathering spot and revealed that she had accepted a mission there for Shi Yan.
• Shi Yan spent 4,000 Martial Virtue Points to raise Heavenly Fire Guidance to Minor Accomplishment before heading toward the demon beasts.

Shi Yan and Li Yuqing encountered three hostile men in the mountains after Shi Yan hunted a pack of Bloodthirsty Twin-Eyed Wolves. Li Yuqing fought the Sixth Order Mustachioed Man, but the chapter ended when his two companions reappeared and merged into one.

• Shi Yan killed more than forty Bloodthirsty Twin-Eyed Wolves while Li Yuqing watched, impressed by his saber and movement techniques.
• Li Yuqing sensed three approaching men and put on her armor to shield Shi Yan.
• The Mustachioed Man accused Li Yuqing of stealing the wolf pack, and she identified the newcomers as enemies.
• Li Yuqing attacked the Mustachioed Man and his two companions with Returning Blades, explosives, and exploding sword fragments, badly wounding the Mustachioed Man.
• The two young men reappeared and merged into one person, prompting Li Yuqing to recognize a combination of Ninjutsu and a clone superpower.

Shi Yan used a powerful fire explosion to kill Matsumoto and helped Li Yuqing defeat the other Dongying warrior, then learned the pair had been sent to investigate missing Huaxia experts and Po. Lord Shadow ordered new teams to avenge Matsumoto and secretly targeted Li Yuqing and Shi Yan before the Freshman Grand Competition.

• Matsumoto's aura fell from Sixth Order to Fourth-Order Peak after Li Yuqing's Returning Blades, but Shi Yan killed him with an explosion of two flames.
• Li Yuqing killed the gravely injured Mustachioed Man, then told Shi Yan that the Dongying warriors were likely investigating the disappearance of Huaxia experts and checking whether Po had disappeared.
• Lord Shadow learned that Matsumoto and the other warrior had died and ordered two teams to avenge them before the Freshman Grand Competition.
• After the masked man left, Lord Shadow identified the departing pair as Li Yuqing and Shi Yan and vowed to make them suffer the loss of a genius.